📰🧠🔬 DEMENTIA STUDY HIGHLIGHTS – Referral Criteria for Specialist Palliative Care for Patients With Dementia by Chang YK, Philip J, van der Steen JT, et al.

This study aimed to identify a set of consensus referral criteria for specialist palliative care for patients with dementia.

An international, multidisciplinary panel of clinicians from 5 continents was asked to rate 83 putative referral criteria. Specialist palliative care was defined as an interdisciplinary team offering consultative services for specialist-level palliative care in non-hospice inpatient, outpatient, community, and home-based settings.

The results showed that the panellists achieved consensus on 15 major and 42 minor criteria for specialist palliative care referral.
The 15 major criteria were grouped under five categories: dementia type, symptom distress, psychosocial factors or decision-making, comorbidities or complications, and hospital use.

The study concluded that international experts reached consensus on a range of criteria for referral to specialist palliative care. With testing and validation, these criteria may be used to standardize specialist palliative care access for patients with dementia.

The findings can help improve the quality of care for patients with dementia and improve the overall quality of life for those affected by dementia.

Access the full article at: Chang YK, Philip J, van der Steen JT, et al. Referral Criteria for Specialist Palliative Care for Patients With Dementia. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(5):e2510298. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2833975 This is an open access article under a CC-BY license.